Nanosolar Prints Thin Film Solar At 100-Feet-per-Minute
For all those that have been waiting to catch a glimpse of how Nanosolar has been printing its next-generation thin film solar cells, here’s some eye candy for you. The company, which started manufacturing in just December, put up this video clip of what the company says is the solar industry’s first 1 GW production tool. The $1.65 million machine prints at an awesome 100-feet-per-minute pace and uses nanoparticle ink, which the company says is their secret sauce.
Nanosolar CEO Martin Rocheisen writes on his blog that the speed of the process makes the company’s printing “two orders of magnitude more capital efficient than a high-vacuum process: a twenty times slower high-vacuum tool would have cost about ten times as much per tool.”
The 1 GW annual capacity is also significant, as Rocheisen says that most solar industry production tools deliver closer to 10-30MW capacity per year. We’re not sure if this milestone will be maintained for the rest of the company’s production tools, or for its other plant in Germany. Update: Roscheisen tells us that the company’s plants are not standardized on 100 feet-per-minute because different processes run at different widths and degrees of parallelism.
While Nanosolar is ramping up its production capabilities, startups like HelioVolt and Miasole are also working hard on thin film solar production processes using CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenide). And the older chip and IT companies are moving in, too. IBM just jumped into the fray, looking to make CIGS in a joint effort with chip gear maker Tokyo Ohka Kogyo. We’re thinking the timing of Nanosolar’s video blog post — just a couple days after IBM’s announcement — is no coincidence.
For more info on Nanosolar:
10 Questions for Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen
Read about Nanosolar’s CEO in:25 Who Ditched Infotech for Cleantech
Delightful Post. I think I’ll link to it from all three blogs I’m involved with.
Tomorrow.
Right now, I’m cheering and hoping for Sweden to equal the score against Russia in their last match of this round in Euro 2008…
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[...] about attempting an upgrade anytime soon. Head on past the break to check it out in action.[Via Earth2Tech, thanks William] Continue reading Nanosolar solar film rolls off the presses at 100 [...]
[...] about attempting an upgrade anytime soon. Head on past the break to check it out in action.[Via Earth2Tech, thanks William] Continue reading Nanosolar solar film rolls off the presses at 100 [...]
[...] about attempting an upgrade anytime soon. Head on past the break to check it out in action.[Via Earth2Tech, thanks William] Continue reading Nanosolar solar film rolls off the presses at 100 [...]
[...] about attempting an upgrade anytime soon. Head on past the break to check it out in action.[Via Earth2Tech, thanks William] Continue reading Nanosolar solar film rolls off the presses at 100 [...]
[...] more cost efficient, A twenty times slower high-vacuum tool costs ten times as much.. Article Link: http://www.earth2tech.com Official Link: http://www.nanosolar.com Video Link: http://www.youtube.com Post Link: [...]
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[...] making the cutting edge versions of thin film based on CIGS are just starting to reach the market. Nanosolar touted its 1GW, 100-feet-per-minute thin-film solar equipment in mid-June and Arizona-based Global Solar [...]
[...] sector is moving forward quickly as more startups like Innovalight put their funds into production. Nanosolar recently clicked on its 1 GW solar printer and Global Solar says it has the world’s largest thin-film solar production plant with a [...]